Thermal management of multi-chip electronic packages is critical to ideal performance of the multi-chip electronic packages. Currently, multi-chip electronic packages encapsulate chips between a lid and chip carrier by forming a customized gap between pistons of the lid and the chips mounted on the chip carrier, and dispensing a thermal interface material (TIM) within the gap. The gap is formed by the use of a chip shim placed between pistons of the lid and the chips of the multi-chip electronic packages.
Referring to FIGS. 1a and 1b, a plurality of chips 12 are shown attached to a chip carrier 10. During assembly, a chip shim is placed between the pistons 16 and chip 12 in order to form a gap between the pistons 16 and the chips 12 (FIG. 1a). A lid or hat 14 (hereinafter referred to as a lid) is positioned over the chip carrier 10. The lid has “pistons” 16 that are moved such that they contact the chip shim. The lid is then removed from the chip carrier 10, and the pistons 16 are fixedly attached to the lid 14. The chip shim is removed and the thermal interface material is then placed on the chips. Once the thermal interface material is on the chips 12, the chip carrier 10 and lid are sealed to one another in order to encapsulate the chips 12 (FIG. 1b).
The chip shim needs to retain flexibility to conform to the chip surfaces; however, this becomes increasingly more difficult with the increasing number of chips on the package. In fact, it also becomes difficult to use the chip shims when other components or features are placed between the chips. Also, using the chip shim increases production costs due to the complexity of conforming the chip shim to the features of the chip and other components on the chip carrier, as well as the cost of the chip shim, itself.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to overcome the deficiencies and limitations described hereinabove.